Review: "American Underdog"

To say that Kurt Warner is a great football player is an understatement! As a twelve-season professional quarterback, mainly for the St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals, and a two-time winner of the MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award in the Super Bowl, his career has been amazing. That said, the story of how he got there is incredible! He worked tirelessly, enduring many disappointments along the way. It’s no wonder that Andrew and Jon Erwin believed that Warner’s story had movie potential. The Erwin Brothers’ latest film, American Underdog (2021), was released on Christmas Day, 2021. Here’s my review of “American Underdog.”

As a young boy, Kurt Warner wanted nothing more than to be a Super Bowl and an MVP Quarterback. As an adult (played in the movie by Zachary Levi), he became a slightly rebellious, though exceptional quarterback at the University of Northern Iowa. While he was desperate to be drafted by the NFL, he was initially rejected and found employment at a Hy-Vee grocery store stocking shelves. During that time, he began dating calendar model, Brenda (played by Oscar-Winner Anna Paquin), a single mom who has two kids that Warner bonds with and helps look after. Warner’s career ultimately gets back on track when he is asked to be the quarterback for the Iowa Barnstormers, and later the St. Louis Rams. However as a result, his relationship with Brenda becomes strained so Warner has a faith struggle: what does he value more, a career as a quarterback or his love-life?

“Underdog,” tells the story of Kurt Warner’s success as a quarterback, which didn’t happen overnight. It was due to rejection that Warner thought time and again that he would never be able to become an NFL Quarterback. He never stopped talking to God about how disappointing it was to be rejected. Though he did not give up his faith in God, it became confusing for him as he was also convinced that basically God gave him a dream that he wouldn’t be able to achieve. He was at the end of his rope.

However, he learns through his faith that disappointment is a big part of life and it’s important to know how to act when you face disappointment. What’s miraculous, though, is overcoming disappointments can lead to great successes! That’s an important lesson for everyone to learn, and it’s what inspired Kurt Warner to write the book (with Michael Silver) All Things Possible (2000), the basis for the movie. 

In addition to Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin, the supporting cast includes Dennis Quaid as St. Louis Rams Head Coach, Dick Vermeil and Bruce McGill as owner of the Iowa Barnstormers, Jim Foster. Co-directed and co-produced by the Erwin Brothers, Jon Erwin also co-wrote the screenplay for David Aaron Cohen and Jon Gunn while Andrew Erwin co-edited with Sean Albertson. Gunn also executive produced. The film’s cinematography was done by Kristopher Kimlin. Gunn and Kimlin previously collaborated on the Erwin’s previous film I Still Believe (2020). The film was scored by John Debney who also scored “I Still Believe.”

All in all, “American Underdog,” is a great movie. I had neither read All Things Possible, nor did I even know anything about Kurt Warner before I had seen this movie. Nonetheless, I appreciated it’s inspiring message. Besides overcoming disappointment, the film is about never giving up on pursuit of what you believe is God’s calling on your life, no matter what obstacles stand in your way. The journey is worth-it no matter how long it takes.  

   

 

Review: "Spider-Man: No Way Home"

Stan Lee first created the character of Spider-Man in the comic book Amazing Fantasy #15, which was published in August of 1962. Four decades later, and the main character is now live-action with several incarnations: first Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (2002) and then by Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and in 2018, Sony and Columbia released Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar. After Disney’s acquisition of Marvel in 2009, Tom Holland began portraying Spider-Man, first in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and just recently in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), released on December 17th, 2021. Here’s my review of “No Way Home.”

In the aftermath of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Peter Parker loathes every minute of being a celebrity as people are accepting his true identity is Spider-Man from Aunt May (played by Oscar-Winner Marisa Tomei) to best friend Ned Leeds (played by Jacob Batalon), to his girlfriend Michelle Jones (MJ) Watson, (played by Tom Holland’s real girlfriend, Zendaya). As Peter continues to deal with celebrity pressures, he summons his friend/fighting partner from Avengers: Endgame (2019), Doctor Stephen Strange (played by Oscar-Nominee Benedict Cumberbatch) to see if he could possibly make the world forget he’s Spider-Man. Strange knows a magical spell that can do that, and follows through. However, the spell goes awry, and winds up giving Peter a battle bigger than “Endgame.” Soon, Spider-man is intermixed with villains from alternate universes including (Spoiler Alert!) Doctor Octopus (played by Tony-Nominee Alfred Molina), Electro (played by Oscar-Winner Jamie Foxx), the Green Goblin (played by Oscar-Nominee Willem Dafoe), the Sandman (played by Oscar-Nominee Thomas Hayden Church), and even the Lizard (played by Rhys Ifans) as well as the alternate Peter Parkers (once again played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield).

Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (who also wrote “Far From Home,” Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), as well as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)), and the film directed by Jon Watts. Watts directed “Far From Home,” and “Homecoming,” but “No Way Home,” is the ultimate “Spider-Man,” adventure. The plot is difficult to follow at times, as it brings back actors who have had roles in “Spider-Man,” long before Disney acquired Marvel in 2009. Despite some confusion, the movie is totally worth seeing. It a touching homage to the character of Spider-Man and his heroic abilities to save the world and still protect his loved ones.

Spider-Man was the youngest of the Avengers and as such, still naive; but he still has determination and potential. He was fortunate to receive guidance from Tony Stark/aka “Iron Man,” in “Civil War,” “Homecoming,” Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and “Endgame.” However, with the passing of his mentor in “Endgame,” in “Far From Home,” and “No Way Home,” Peter Parker is having to face challenges without his mentor. Whether or not he can, and ultimately mature into a decent hero/adult man is the challenge. 

In addition to the returns of Maguire, Garfield, Dafoe, etc., the film also includes the return of Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons as disgruntled Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, and Benedict Wong as Dr. Strange’s sidekick, Wong. The film’s original score was composed by Michael Giacchino, who won an Oscar for composing Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009) and who also scored “Homecoming,” and “No Way Home,”. The Cinematography was done by Mauro Fiore who won an Oscar for doing the Cinematography on Avatar (2009) and the film was co-edited by Leigh Folsom Boyd who edited “Far From Home,” and Jeffrey Ford who edited each of the “Avengers,” movies (2012-2019). 

Overall, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” is great movie, period. I am not what whom you would characterize as the ultimate “Spider-Man” fan. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film more than I thought I would because I had grown up on the earlier “Spider-Man,” movies and I wasn’t expecting “No Way Home,” to acknowledge the earlier films in the ways that it did. I wound up liking it even better than “Endgame,” which I didn’t think was possible knowing how epic a film that is. Taking these thoughts into consideration “No Way Home,” maybe the best “Spider-Man,” film ever!

Review: "Being the Ricardos"

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were undoubtedly two of the most popular people in television. Married for more than 20 years, they collaborated together on beloved CBS sit-com I Love Lucy (1951-1957), in which their relationship as husband and wife was always portrayed as happy and loving. Off-screen, however, their relationship was tumultuous. While their relationship has been the subject of two TV movies, it was recently given a theatrical and streaming release: Amazon’s Being the Ricardos, starring Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Ball and Arnaz. Here’s my review of that film:

During a hectic production week in the third season of “I Love Lucy,” Lucille Ball is wrongly accused of being a communist while Desi Arnaz is accused of not being faithful to Lucy. The future of their show, as well as their relationship and careers, and even their friendships with co-stars Vivian Vance and William Frawley (respectively played by Tony-Winner Nina Arianda and Oscar-Winner J.K. Simmons) is on the line. Overcoming the backlash they received is the major story line, paired with the stories of how they met, fell in love, got married, and worked together to get their show off the ground at CBS. The film also includes the reflections upon that pressure-packed week years later by “I Love Lucy,” screenwriters Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh-Davis, and Bob Carroll.

Written and Directed by Academy-Award-Winning Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network (2010)), “Being the Ricardos,” tells the story of Lucille Ball’s and Desi Arnaz’s remarkable partnership. During their marriage, they were deeply in love and they never stopped relying on each other’s creative instincts. They ran their show together on their own terms and if the network had a problem on how they were running it, they worked together to remedy it. And although their marriage sadly ended in divorce, they never truly fell out of love with each other.

Although one could argue that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem don’t look exactly like Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in real life, their skills at bringing realism to every role they play show up well in this movie. Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for The Hours in 2002 and Bardem won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for No Country for Old Men in 2007, though I would say their performances in this movie are award worthy as well. Nina Arianda and J.K. Simmons are exceptional as Vivian Vance and William Frawley, and the supporting cast includes the talents of Arrested Development Alum Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, and Emmy-Winner Tony Hale, respectively as the younger versions “I Love Lucy,” writers Madelyn Pugh-Davis, Bob Carroll, and Jess Oppenheimer (with Linda Lavin, Ronny Cox, and John Rubenstein as their older counterparts). Marvel Cinematic Universe alum Clark Gregg co-stars as fictional network executive Howard Wenke.

“Being the Ricardos,” Cinematography was done by Jeff Cronenweth, who received a Best Cinematography Oscar Nomination for “Social Network,” and it was Edited by Alan Baumgarten who received a Best Editing Oscar Nomination for The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) which was written and directed by Sorkin as well. The music was composed by Daniel Pemberton, who received a Best Original Song Oscar Nomination for the song “Hear My Voice,” written for “Trial of Chicago 7.” Ball and Arnaz’s children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr., also served as Executive Producers of the film.

All in all, “Being the Ricardos,” is a very well-made film. Personally, I got so lost in the film that I forgot I was watching people act. I honestly felt like I was watching the real people who were there tell their own version of the story, which hasn’t happened very often in my life. I would recommend that all “I Love Lucy,” fans see this movie, even if you have reservations about being exposed to the more complicated, not-so-funny truth about the show. Although the truth about “Lucy,” is complicated, everyone who made “I Love Lucy,” in reality were relentless in their efforts and the film makes you love them all even more, especially Lucy herself.

Sally Ann Howes: Truly a Treasure

When Walt Disney produced Mary Poppins (1964), the film became the envy of “James Bond” series producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli. Broccoli had successes with the early James Bond movies: Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), etc., though his three children: Tina, Tony, and Barbara were too young for those movies and Broccoli wanted to produce a movie that his children could grow up on—that could possibly imitate the success of “Poppins.” 

Broccoli discovered that Ian Fleming, ironically the author of the “James Bond” novel series, had also written a book called Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car as gift to his son Caspar. Hence, Broccoli brought the idea of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a movie-musical to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. When it came to cast, Broccoli had hoped to reunite Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews as the respective two leads, Caractacus Potts and Truly Scrumptious. While Van Dyke agreed to play Potts, Andrews declined Scrumptious. Broccoli instead, found another renowned Broadway performer, Sally Ann Howes. While Truly Scrumptious became Howes’ best-known role, she mad quite a versatile career. 

 

Sally Ann Howes was born on July 20th, 1930, in the St. John’s Wood district of London, England. A career as a performer was natural thing for her because she was born into a show business family. Her parents were British comedian Bobby Howes and actress Patricia Malone, brother Peter was a professional musician, grandfather Capt. J.A.E. Malone was a London theatrical director of musicals, and her uncle Pat Malone was an actor on stage, television, and film. Most of her childhood was spent with her nanny and her parents’ theatrical friends, though it was organized and peaceful.

After appearing in school productions, Howes received her first major film offer when a friend of the family, who also happened to be a casting agent, recommended her for the leading role in a film called Thursday’s Child (1943). Producer John Argyle had tested two hundred girls for the part, to no avail, until he saw Howes’ test. After appearing in another film called The Halfway House (1944), Ann Howes was put under contract by Michael Balcon of London’s production company, Ealing Studios, and she appeared in seven films before the age of 20 including: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) and Anna Karenina (1948) with Vivien Leigh.

After getting another contract at Britain’s Rank Organization, she appeared with Sir John Mills in The History of Mr. Polly (1949) and Fools Rush In (1949). Television and stage later came calling and she appeared in the BBC’s Cinderella (1950) as the title character and made her first professional stage appearance in Sandy Wilson’s Caprice in London’s West End that same year. She also married H. Maxwell Cooker that year, but they soon divorced. In 1953, she co-starred with her father, Bobby, in West End’s original production of Paint Your Wagon, featuring music by Frederick Lowe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It flopped on Broadway, but ran for 18 months in London’s West End.

Lerner & Lowe’s next Broadway musical project, My Fair Lady, opened to rave reviews on March 15th, 1956 and starred Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins. When Andrews left the show 1958 to recreate Eliza Doolittle in London’s West End, Lerner and Lowe needed a permanent replacement and they offered the part to Howes. She declined their first offer, as she was attached to appear in Admirable Crichton (1957) with Kenneth Moore. Lerner and Lowe continued to persist and Howes finally accepted their third offer. She was even paid a salary higher than Andrews. During her first performance, she filled in for Andrews before she had officially left and the show’s director, Moss Hart announced that she would play the role and the audience was appalled by the news of Andrews’s absence. When Sally came on stage to perform, she stopped the show with the numbers “The Rain in Spain” and “I Could Have Danced All Night,” and Howes was later quoted as having said her debut in “Fair Lady” was “the most exciting day of my life,” and she remained fond of American audiences for the rest of her life. ’58 was also the year she married Richard Adler, composer of Broadway musicals such as The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees, and she adopted his sons Christopher and Andrew.

In 1962, Howes starred in New York City Opera’s revival of Lerner and Lowe’s Brigadoon and she received a Tony Award Nomination for her performances as the Leading role of Fiona MacLaren, making her the very first Broadway actor ever to receive a Tony Nomination for a performance in a Revival. It caught the attention of “Cubby” Broccoli, who knew instantly he had found his Truly Scrumptious for “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” In addition to casting Dick Van Dyke, Broccoli also hired many of the same creative team behind “Mary Poppins,” including composers/lyricists Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, Choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood, and Conductor/Music Supervisor Irwin Kostal. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was initially a commercial flop, but it has achieved near cult status today, and was even re-adapted for Broadway in 2005, playing a total of 285 performances and receiving five Tony nominations, including a Best Actress in a Musical nomination for Erin Dilly for her performance as Truly Scrumptious.

Howes divorced her second husband in ’66 and after “Chitty,” continued to appear on stage in touring productions of The King and I in Britain and The Sound of Music in the United States. In 1972, she married Douglas Rae and they were married for 49 years until his death in September 2021. She appeared in two seasons of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music as well. She never made another film appearance until 1980’s Death Ship. In 1990, she debuted in her one-woman show “From This Moment On,” at the Edinburgh Festival and later brought the show to the John Drew Theatre at Easthampton, New York as a benefit for the Long Island AIDS Association. Her final stage appearance was in a U.S. Tour of My Fair Lady though in this production, she portrayed Mrs. Higgins. (She was later replaced in the tour by Marni Nixon, who ironically had provided the singing voice for Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film adaptation of My Fair Lady.)

Sally Ann Howes died just this week of natural causes at the age of 91 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She will forever be remembered as Truly Scrumptious, though her career was “truly” remarkable.    

   

 

The Christmas Song That Beat Them All

Jerome Kern was once asked to describe Irving Berlin’s place in American Music and he replied “Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music.” One song he wrote early in the 1940’s proves the point. The song I’m referring to is none other than “White Christmas.” Around for nearly eight decades and still beloved today—whether referring to the song or the 1954 movie—brings wonderful memories for many. Today’s blog explores the history of the melodious tune and how it became a classic.

There’s a story that says that Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas,” while staying at the La Quinta Hotel in La Quinta, California, though the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, insists that Berlin wrote it there. It’s unknown for certain. At one point, he told his secretary, “I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote. It’s the best song anybody ever wrote.” The song was introduced to Bing Crosby, though Crosby initially wasn’t a fan of the song. He doubted its potential, but little could he have ever predicted how synonymous the song was going to become with his career. 

Crosby first performed the song on his NBC Radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941, not long after Pearl Harbor. He would later record the song with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Darby Orchestra playing the tune at Radio Records in Los Angeles. The song was later written into Paramount’s Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire-led film Holiday Inn (1942). Although “Holiday Inn’s,” “Be Careful, It’s My Heart,” was the bigger hit at first, “White Christmas,” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and it rose to the top of many radio charts, including Billboards, where it remained for 11 weeks. Despite “hit” status, Bing Crosby continued to deny its success, also being quoted as saying “a jackdaw…could have sung it successfully.” But Crosby’s alliance with the song still wouldn’t stop.

Irving Berlin initially began negotiations with Paramount for a film based on his song as early as 1948, though it wasn’t made until 1953. Paramount had intended to reunite Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire from “Holiday Inn,” and Blue Skies (1946). Astaire declined due to disliking the script and his desire to be released from his Paramount contract. He was replaced by Donald O’Connor who later quit due to illness. He was replaced by Danny Kaye, with Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen as Crosby and Kaye’s respective love interests. 

“White Christmas,” was Paramount Pictures’ first film produced in the VistaVision process, which was a widescreen format invented by Paramount, which doubled the surface area of 35 mm film. The film became a universal hit, and was the highest-grossing film of 1954, earning 12 million dollars in theatrical rentals. It even earned Berlin another Best Original Song Oscar Nomination for the song “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep.”

Bing Crosby’s original 1942 recording was damaged from constant playing, though it was rerecorded in 1947 by Crosby, and the Darby Singers with the Trotter Orchestra. That is the version most often heard today, and has sold about 50 million copies. One of those copies caught the attention of a five-year-old Michael Buble, which triggering his interest in jazz. Buble himself recorded the song as a duet with Shania Twain on his Christmas album in 2012. Their duet was re-recorded by the cast of Glee that same year. Gwen Stefani and Meghan Trainor also recorded their own versions: Stefani sang the duet version with Seth McFarlane in 2017, and Trainor sang her solo version in 2020.

The movie-musical “White Christmas” was adapted for Broadway in 2008. It opened at the Marquis Theatre on November 23rd, 2008 and played a total of 53 performances. The show received two Tony Award Nominations for Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations, and in addition to including many of the film’s beloved songs, the show also featured Berlin songs that were not written for the movie, including “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” and “Let Yourself Go.” The show was revived the following year in 2009, and played again the Marquis for a total of 51 performances.

Transitioning from pages of music, to movie screens, to the Broadway stage, “White Christmas,” is a special song for many reasons. It’s a song that’s about the kind of Christmas we all want and/or hope to have with lyrics like “Where treetops glisten and children to listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.” And the irony is, even if we don’t get to experience a white Christmas (which we usually don’t in Texas), just listening to the song itself can still warm our hearts during the holiday season: “May your days be merry and bright. And may all your Christmases be white!”

  

 

       

Review: "Encanto"

Walt Disney premiered his first-ever cartoon movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) on December 21st, 1937, at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood, California. The film broke ground as the very first hour-and-a-half long cartoon produced on hand drawn animation with color and sound. In the 84 years since then the Walt Disney Animation Studios have released 60 feature-length cartoons. Number 60 is the new film Encanto (2021), which premiered this past Wednesday, November 24th. Here’s my “Encanto,” review:

Mirabel Madrigal lives with her family at the magical Casa de Madrigal (House of Madrigals) in Columbia. Mirabel loves her large family dearly, from her sisters Isabela and Luisa, to her parents Augustin and Julieta, to her good-hearted but slightly overbearing Abuela, and they love her too. However, Mirabel constantly deals with loneliness because everyone in her family possesses magical powers…except her. It is a mystery to everyone why she doesn’t have any powers, and Mirabel herself wants to discover what her gift truly is. When the magical house begins to fall apart and Mirabel’s family also begins to lose their magical powers, a future-predicting uncle named Bruno helps Mirabel learn what she can do to save her house and family…her gift.

This movie tells a wonderful story about what makes each of us unique. The film was co-written and co-directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, who also wrote and directed Disney’s Zootopia (2016), winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar. While “Zootopia,” told a different story, both films emphasized how deep human bonds, rather than judgment helps us all accept each others’ unique contributions.

Bush and Howard shared writing and directing credit with Charise Castro Smith who made her directorial debut with “Encanto.” The film features an Original Score by Germaine Franco as well as Original Songs by Tony-Award-Winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also credited as a story writer with Bush, Howard, and Smith. The film’s head producer is Clark Spencer who shared the “Zootopia,” Oscar win with Howard and Rich Moore, and it’s Executive Producer is current Head of Disney Animation, Jennifer Lee, who won the Best Animated Feature Oscar for Disney’s mega-hit phenomenon Frozen in 2013. Natalie Nourigat, who also worked as a story artist for “Encanto," wrote and directed an entertaining hand-drawn animated short film, Far From the Tree, that plays in front of the movie. 

The film’s voice cast includes Stephanie Beatriz as the voice of Mirabel Madrigal. Beatriz previously played Carla in this year’s film adaptation of In the Heights, a musical that originated on Broadway and was also written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Angie Cepeda and Wilmer Valderrama voiced Augustin and Julieta Madrigal respectively and while Cepeda makes her Disney debut, Valderrama is also known for voicing Gaxton in Disney/Pixar’s Onward (2020). John Leguizamo voices Uncle Bruno Madrigal and Alan Tudyk voices the family’s pet toucan, Pico. (Both Stephanie Beatriz and John Leguizamo lent their voices to the Ice Age (2002-2016) franchise as well. Leguizamo voiced Sid the Sloth in all five movies and Beatriz voiced Gertie the Dinosaur in Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), the fifth film in the series.)

Overall, “Encanto,” is a beautiful film in which audiences can identify with each of the characters in some way and there is really no villain. With a talented voice cast, visuals by the creators of “Zootopia,” and songs by musical-writing magician, Lin-Manuel Miranda, there’s really nothing not to like. In comparing “Encanto,” to Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), released earlier this year, I would say I liked “Encanto,” better because I’m a huge fan of musicals and I was thrilled to see Disney return to that format. Even if you don’t like musicals, you’ll still feel inspired by the film’s positive message on family and friendship.

    

     

Review: "Ghostbusters: Afterlife"

“When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!” Ray Parker Jr. wrote these lyrics for the Oscar-nominated song “Ghostbusters,” the theme song of the film which which was released on June 8th, 1984 and was directed by Ivan Reitman. 35 years later, Reitman’s son, Jason Reitman teamed up with his father and Gil Kenan to reboot the story. In this new version, a modern-day family relocates to a country town and together discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and their role in the continuing saga. While Ivan produced, Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote the script with Kenan. Jason literally “grew up” on the set of the original “Ghostbusters” watching his father direct the original. This is my review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife:

Callie is a single mom with two young children, Trevor and Phoebe, and they have been evicted from their home, relocating to a farmhouse they inherited from Callie’s father in Summerville, Oklahoma. Neither Callie nor the children have ever known anything about him, or how died or what he was up to before he died. They just feel the pain of being abandoned by him. When they relocate, they learn that their father/grandfather was, in fact, Egon Spengler, a former Ghostbuster who played a significant role in the “ghost attack” in New York in 1984. As they continue to find out more and more information about Egon, they ultimately find themselves in trouble with the town sheriff and ultimately with new ghosts.

This movie is unbelievably well-written. It is as funny as it is touching, as it pays a loving tribute to the late-great Harold Ramis, who not only played Egon Spengler, but also co-wrote both of the original “Ghostbusters” films with Dan Aykroyd. Ramis passed away at the age of 69, in 2014, and besides the “Ghostbusters,” series he was also known for co-writing and directing: Caddyshack (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), Analyze This (1999), and Year One (2009). The original “Ghostbusters,” was the highest-grossing comedy of all-time, succeeded by Home Alone (1990), six years later. That would not have happened had it not been for Harold Ramis, and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” in my view nicely continues the legacy, helping Ramis’ “spirit” to live on in the world of movies.

The film’s main casts consists of Carrie Coon as Callie, McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard as Phoebe and Trevor, respectively, along with Paul Rudd as the summer schoolteacher Mr. Grooberson. Logan Kim plays the kids’ new friend, Podcast. The new characters are entertaining, and the child actors are exceptional in their roles. Spoiler Alert: It is equally entertaining when we finally see Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson return as Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddermore along with Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz. While it is disappointing that Rick Moranis does not appear in this movie, the return of the rest of the gang, including a surprise post-script all bring clever humor to the film.

In addition to having an exceptional script by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, the film includes music composed by Rob Simonsen, though the music does include references to Elmer Bernstein’s score from the original. The film was co-edited by Nathan Orloff and Dana E. Glauberman. (Glauberman previously edited Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007)). Costumes were designed by Danny Glicker who received an Oscar Nomination for the costumes he designed for Milk (2008) and Production Design was done by Francois Audoy who did the production designing for Ford v. Ferrari (2019).

On the whole, Jason Reitman did an incredible job making a film based on his special childhood memory. You could say he made us all wish we all could have grown up on the set of the original “Ghostbusters.” If you weren’t a fan of the lady-Ghostbusters reboot, released in 2016, you will rest at ease when you go to the see this movie. Personally, I would rank it as one of the best reboots ever of an ‘80s film series.